Matt Smith interview: Tobias Menzies will be ‘brilliant’ taking over my Prince Philip role in ‘The Crown’ Season 3

“I think it’s a brilliant bit of casting.” That’s what Matt Smith recently confessed to Gold Derby about his buddy Tobias Menzies taking over his role of Prince Philip in Season 3 of Netflix’s regal drama “The Crown.” (Watch our exclusive interview here.) After playing the real-life character for two seasons, and earning an Emmy nomination this year as Best Drama Supporting Actor, Smith recently bid adieu to “The Crown” as it’s jumping forward in time next year with all of the actors being re-cast.

Smith, 35, added that he and Menzies, 44, have “spoken already” about the casting shake-up. “I know Tobias quite well,” he told us about the former “Outlander” scene-stealer. “And also, I’ve done it with ‘Doctor Who’ where you hand over a part and I’m sort of fine with that. That’s just not a problem for me. I’m just excited and I watch it as a fan. I’m intrigued to see what happens.” Season 3 of “The Crown” is expected to debut in 2019 on the streaming service.

“[It’s] something that hasn’t really been done before,” Smith said about the concept of the TV show aging its characters by re-casting its actors. “That’s quite an appealing thing [for actors]. And if they can get it right over the six years, which I think they’ve cast it fantastically this year, it will be an event.” Besides Menzies playing Smith’s Prince Philip, Olivia Colman is set to take over for Claire Foy‘s Queen Elizabeth II and Helena Bonham Carter is on board to replace Vanessa Kirby‘s Princess Margaret.

Smith faces formidable Emmy competition this year from the likes of David Harbour (“Stranger Things”), Peter Dinklage (“Game of Thrones”), Joseph Fiennes (“The Handmaid’s Tale”), Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (“Game of Thrones”) and Mandy Patinkin (“Homeland”). However, in Smith’s favor is the fact that last year’s champ Lithgow is no longer eligible, so voters could simply mark off another “Crown” supporting actor in his place.

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